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Canned vegan baked beans and sausages: Has-beans or heaven in a tin?

I survived the first term of this year, made it through the exams (I'm as surprised as you are by that one), and I'm ploughing through the second faster than I'd like. Between now and the end of next month, I've got another set of exams, I have to give a presentation on the disease of my choice (!) to the rest of my year, critique a scientific paper I can barely understand, and complete more other assignments than I'd care to think about. Still, I'm feeling more cheery than I should be with all those horrors on my to-do list, but that doesn't mean I'm not preparing for the weeks ahead when I'll have my head too far down in the books to be able to put together a meal that's any more effort than opening a tin.

I'm always on the lookout for readymade meals that are tasty and, well, come in a tin!

I think the last time I had tinned baked beans and sausages, they were meat sausages and I was probably about 11. I remember going through a phase where tinned baked beans and sausages were the only thing I wanted to eat on Saturdays and Sundays.

Baked beans and sausages were a celebration of not being in school - I knew if I had enough time to toast bread and warm some beans in a pan, I couldn't be in a rush. I didn't have to put on my school uniform, grab my books, and try to make it in before the first bell rung. I could sit and take my time, enjoy a proper breakfast, and know I had a whole weekend ahead of me.

Now, I know if I'm eating tinned beans and sausages, I've got no time on my hands, and that's probably because I've got to haul myself to school once again!

I'll tell what's not changed though - the beans and sausages are almost exactly the same between then and now, despite those in the distant past being meat and today's ones being vegan. How weird is that? I guess that's either because people making vegan food have learnt how to make it taste almost exactly like meat, or because the meat versions were so cheap they didn't have much in the way of meat in them.

Either way, if you're looking for a cheap (about £1.30-worth) ticket to the Proustian breakfast of your childhood, then Suma's beans are exactly that. The sausages have got the same soft texture, and the same slightly herby taste as they always did, and there are still too few of them compared to the beans. And, then as now, if you're looking for a meal that's decent even when you've got five minutes or less to cook, then just grab yourself a tin opener and get stuck in.

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Oooh this looks very good - it brings back memories of someone else's childhood - a little kid I lived with for a while in London whose mother was always serving her sausages and beans - I think they were vegetarian (the ones I tried definitely were) courtesy of Mr Heinz - not sure if he still serves up such treats but wish we had suma's veg sausages and beans in Melbourne

I have had them and took a photograph to share, but not got round to it. I had never had anything like this when i was a child, so it was more for novelty when i picked them a few months back. I thought they were okay, the sausages if in the tin too long can feel a little soggy, but i'd eat it again - happily. Good luck with your presentation and Uni exams.

Congratulations on finishing the first term! No small feat, and I know it's a full time job. Not sure I've ever had canned sausages but I'm wicked into canned beans when need be. Especially hot over toast.

I never doubted for a minute that you would do well in your exams, as you will this semester, too. As for finding instant food, you seem to be pretty good at that, too. I remember canned beans and franks from the distant past of childhood, and they certainly weren't vegan. Your beans and sausages look pretty good — just need something green for a little color balance. :)

Good luck on your 2nd term, I'm sure you'll do fine. Your post brings back memories of my own student days surviving on canned food. My tin(s) of choice was soup though, no vegan version of beans and sausage, how times have changed. :-)

About me

Hi, I'm Joey. I'm vegan, and I'm chuffed about it. Seriously, it's cool right? If you're a vegan, you'll know what I mean. I've never learnt to cook so much tasty, experimental food since I went herbivore a few years back. I live in London, and I like that too.

I'm a journalist when I'm not writing here, and I don't mind that either. If I'm not cooking, then I'm reading vegan blogs, making stuff, down the pub, or studying. If I'm not doing that, I'm probably asleep.

If you'd like to get in touch, drop me a line at flickingthevs [at] yahoo co uk